Screening for Intimate Partner Violence in a Primary Care Setting

Intimate partner violence (IPV) leads to serious health complications for women and has become a public health crisis across the US. The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends that clinicians screen all women of childbearing age for IPV, such as domestic violence (DV), and to provide or refer women who screen positive to intervention services. Despite this recommendation, clinicians screen for IPV less than 50% of the time. The purpose of this project was to equip primary care providers (PCPs) with the knowledge and tools they need to screen for IPV and to refer victims to community resources as a means to improving the health of women affected by IPV. The objectives of this project included identifying barriers, current tools, resources, and processes used to complete IPV screening and referral; educating PCPs on effective IPV screening tools and referral strategies; disseminating results of the project to the local and/or state DV coalitions; and disseminating the project to peers through a professional poster presentation. An evidence-based educational presentation on IPV screening and referral was developed and delivered to PCPs at a local primary care clinic. A "Key Points" handout was distributed to PCPs to support the presentation. Pre- and post-tests were completed by all PCPs at the time of the presentation. The results from the pre-and post-test surveys suggest that the educational presentation increased knowledge and motivation to incorporate IPV screening and referral into practice. Results were presented to the Utah DV Coalition as well as the Weber-Morgan DV Coalition, and an abstract for a professional poster presentation was submitted and received by Utah Public Health Association Conference. In summary, IPV is a significant public health problem that affects all ages, socioeconomic classes, and ethnic groups. Screening and referral prevent further abuse, and reduce physical, emotional, and social consequences of abuse. This project successfully equipped PCPs at a local primary care clinic with knowledge and tools they need to screen for IPV and refer victims to reliable community resources.